Monday, October 24, 2011

Whew. I have not been able to post any of my fabulous journey with the GAPS diet, complete with mess-ups and grease-splattered photos, because I have been up to my elbows in squash and bone broth. It has been empowering though, to realize that I have been able to do this. My kids have eaten soup for breakfast for almost a month. And have had sauerkraut, kefir, veggie juice (they already liked that), bone broths, homemade mayonnaise, meat-off-the-bone, kimchi (only my adventurous 6 yo who is addicted to horseradish so I know has a spicy mouth), and every type of soup you could imagine, often blended in the old-school Vitamix 3600, or invented from scraps in the fridge. We were late to nature class this morning because I didn't finish making THE SOUP until 10 minutes before we had to leave, and for some reason it doesn't work to scarf down soup. God made it to be savored. And, um, it doesn't travel well in the van. Maybe that will be my contribution to the GAPS world--dehydrated soup pellets, or soup brittle. If it looks like dipping dots, kids will like it! Wait, it might need to have sugar in it too. Hmph.

I had the stomach flu last week, and was laid exceedingly low. DH had to pick up the GAPS pieces, and many of the elements were missed, and some starches were consumed. But I can see a (negative) difference in behavior this week, and my 2 yo's contentment/attention span which means that it had been making a difference BEFORE. Somehow I am telling this in the most confusing way possible, but we'll just keep muddling through. And at the end of the day her cheeks would not be flaming red while we were stricter with doing the diet, although she still has the keritosis bumps on her cheeks, arms, thighs, calves. And this week, ze cheeks, zey are red again! DH did the best he could, and I have to hand it to him for giving them broth and meat and veggies pretty religiously (maybe low on the veggies but who's counting).

I think with this diet, it helps we all (me and kiddos) have meat-loving, fat-needing type O blood. I think grains are hard on us, so later if we add in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other beans we might still be OK, although the disaccharides in these are supposed to keep our guts from healing (they are too hard to digest, so stay undigested, and feed bad pathogens/bacteria in the gut, which create holes in the lining of the gut). I need to read the book so I can explain this better! Sorry y'all.

He is less impressed with soup for breakfast.
And don't look now, but my desk is in a surprising lowly-piled state behind him. Yes, I said low!! Don't judge.
It counts as low if it doesn't look like it's going to fall over and bury a little person.

I didn't even include a picture of my 6 yo because she had already finished her soup and left. She has always loved soup and veggies and meat so I was not worried about her on this diet a'tall. She'll drink a spoonful of sauerkraut juice STRAIGHT UP. All that to say, follow this this week if you are interested in the GAPS diet. I have a plethora of websites and links I could share, but Kimi at Nourishing Gourmet is kind of summarizing/examining things this next week, so I thought I'd jump on her train. Maybe you'd want to join in the conversation!?? Do I sound freakishly excited for you to do that? I have been a little bit isolated this past month, haha. Next time I'll write more about why we started the diet and what I am (was?) hoping to accomplish. What am I doing? What am I eating? Hey, sometimes just Chipotle. I'm no superhero.

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I'm Bekah. I like Jesus. I like birth. I like talking about health, nutrition, theology, and sometimes politicks. I like life. I like wholesome foods and goofy people. I like music and books and homeschooling. I like dreaming about our future farm. I like my husband. I like my 3 kiddos. I like you being here. Thanks for reading!